The following pictures were taken from a slide series depicting a routine circumcision of a newborn infant within a typical hospital nursery setting. These pictures were originally published in the December 1981 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and were provided by The Curtis Publishing Company (subsidiary of The Saturday Evening Post). The accompanying text was written by Rosemary Romberg.

1. These first two pictures are most important because we must remember that this baby, and every baby, does have a mother (and, of course, a father too). New parents are usually naÔve and trusting of the medical establishment when they go to the hospital to give birth. They may be overwhelmed by unfamiliar and frightening procedures and equipment. Amidst the emotional upheaval and physical challenge of labor and impending birth, parents often face a bombardment of admittance procedures upon entering the hospital. In this state of excitement and confusion, parents frequently sign circumcision consent forms with scarcely any thought. (In the past many babies were routinely circumcised without any parental consent.) Some medical professionals urge reluctant parents to agree to this operation. Others blindly accept this as one more "cog" in the hospital machinery, and give advice that is vague and neutral at best.
Parents may have heard the long disproven associations of circumcision with disease prevention or cleanliness. A circumcised father may have the idea that his sonís penis should "match" his own.

2. It is important to remember that new parents do love their babies and sincerely want to do what is best for them. But usually they know very little about hospital procedures and are shielded from what goes on behind the scenes. Certainly if more parents were shown exactly what will happen to their infants if they undergo circumcision, more parents would think twice about choosing this painful and unnecessary operation.
Some viewers may object that pictures of infant circumcision are "too horrible for parents to see." Again, as I have repeatedly emphasized elsewhere, if infant circumcision is too horrible for adults to see, then it should also be too horrible for babies to experience! Who is it most important that we protect?

For permission to reproduce any or all of these pictures or text please contact: